http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/12349646/big-ten-considerin...
Interesting article and points made. There are definitely some pluses but I can't see any single conference instituting this without the entire P5 doing it as the same time given the recruiting disadvantage it would put them in.
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I don't like it. Part of being an adult is learning to make decisions for yourself, not having the authorities that be make life decisions for you.
From the team perspective can you imagine how the football team would have performed if the true freshmen weren't able to contribute? I can all but guarantee we wouldn't have made a bowl.
I agree with you from the football perspective, although I found this to be interesting:
I guess this is a thing although I haven't heard of it before this article.
It would certainly hurt their basketball recruiting.
I agree that the proposal seems unlikely unless it was Power 5-wide.
With that said, I am not for it. In football it may not matter as much just due to the existing rules on how long an athlete must be removed from high school in order to go pro and the fairly significant lack of alternative professional football options outside of being drafted into the NFL. But with basketball, I would prefer to see institutions of higher learning build more in to the scholarships that require players to stay for more than 1 year, for example. 1 and done play has absolutely destroyed the college bball game. So not so much saying that a kid can't play as a freshman, but one of the stipulations of his scholarship is that he needs to stay for more than 1 year, i would be OK with that.
I like how beisbol does it, either you draft out of high school or have to spend 3 years in college. It will require the NBA upping their minimum age of course but it would be an interesting solution...
Baseball players can also go the JUCO route out of high school and be drafted regardless of years completed (i.e. Bryce Harper).
Do you have to stay three years in college? I just know that you can only get drafted three times.
I don't think the B1G would support anything that went 5-wide
The fact that conference that gave us the Fab 5 is even considering this is ridiculous.
So basically we'd just take this year off in basketball, right?
Considering the turnover and small roster size in that sport, I can't see this ever being adopted without significantly increasing scholarship numbers.
That is an interesting point, you would have to create extra schollies in order have enough players, which is something the P5 could probably afford but not so much for the smaller schools.
If Kentucky imposed the same rules, they wouldn't have a basketball program anymore
I'm all for the Big Ten doing this and implementing it immediately. Urban's head would explode, and every recruit south of the North Pole would commit to non-Big Ten teams. Let the limitations on adults continue in earnest!
Semi off topic, but this is an interesting read on Urban Meyer's redshirt philosophy. He would obviously hate the automatic freshman redshirt.
I try to steer clear of "internet arguments"..but I will wade in on this one.
For me, the idea of a balanced "student-athlete" is a noble one, but the scale has tipped waaaay too far to the "athlete" side. Call me crazy, but I think colleges should be attended, mainly, for the purpose of educating oneself. And I also believe that one should have some educational pre-requisites before even getting there. Perhaps, there should be a movement afoot that allows freshman to play, as long as they have achieved the same entrance requirements of the rest of their classmates?
If colleges are serious about educating young minds, not winning ball games, and making tons of money, I think this is a corrective step in the right direction, and all colleges should fall in line. A college education in America is hardly what it was 50 years ago, and that is a nothing short of a national tragedy.
I understand all too well that lots of people that go to college are not ready for it. I had the grades and the SAT, but surely lacked the maturity. I should have gone to college when I was 30. I can also appreciate that there are kids out there that have come from disadvantaged situations, that want desperately to better themselves and get a college education - maybe even be the first in the family to do so - but are unable to, initially, "make the grade" and be on par with their peers. Sitting out on the sports side of the freshman year, sounds ideal to me in that situation. If a kid truly wants an education, colleges should bend over backwards to help them get it. Using colleges as a springboard, however, to professional sports careers with absolutely no intention of getting any kind of education at all, is what is most troubling to me.
IMO, the BIG will set themselves apart from the pack with this move in a positive way, and I applaud them for it.
College is about "going pro" in any profession or field of study, sports, academics, or business. It is the colleges and tv, public demand, that have turned college sports into a high dollar enterprise instead of an extracurricular activity that accompanies an education. Don't hate the player, hate the game
I say leave it up to the individual schools.
There is 0.0 percent chance of this getting any traction and I'm shocked that what was probably a 5 minute discussion on an idea that was quickly tabled, was allowed to be leaked into the media as though it is an actual consideration